Anhui Cuisine or Hui Cuisine of the Huizhou Culture — Salty and Fresh Tasty Series Disseminated by Diligent Merchants

Anhui Cuisine or Hui Cuisine is the culinary art that originated from the Huizhou Culture in today's Anhui Province, characterized by its salty and fresh flavors.

​

Anhui Cuisine includes various branches, but Huizhou Cuisine from the Huizhou Culture is the most fundamental and influential.

​

It originated in the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279) when the national economic center shifted from northern to southern China due to wars.

​

Anhui Cuisine experienced prosperity about 600 years ago when the people of Huizhou area became one of the most significant business groups in the history of China.

Anhui Cuisine spread widely with these diligent merchants as they traveled, and many adjustments were made upon their return.

​

Anhui Cuisine emphasizes natural and fresh ingredients, with delicacies from local mountains and rivers as the main components of delicate dishes.

​

Common flavorings include vegetable seed oil, soy sauce, sugar, and ham.

​

Roasting, steaming, stewing, braising, and smoking are the most frequently used cooking methods in Anhui Cuisine, each with strict requirements for duration and degree of heating.

​

Today, with rapidly increased transportation, dishes of Anhui Cuisine represent the perfect blend of local ingredients and outside materials, maintaining a consistent cooking method and unique flavors.